


Apart

by Taste_of_Suburbia



Category: Vampire High
Genre: Angst, Break Up, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Forced to hurt somebody, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, h/c_bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 19:47:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9199832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taste_of_Suburbia/pseuds/Taste_of_Suburbia
Summary: Merrill needs to take a stepback.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for h/c_bingo Round 7 for the prompt ‘forced to hurt somebody.’

 

“I _don_ _’t_ want anything to do with you, Marty,” Merrill grit out, eye-contact even more forced than her carefully rehearsed words. _I just need some time to think about all this_ , she reminded herself, but if she told Marty this then he surely would take it as a go ahead.

Merrill was stepping on the brakes this time before they took it too far and she realized she had no feelings, which wasn’t necessarily true. She was acutely aware of Marty’s once non-existent charms, all of which she had chosen to ignore, but she would never know the truth with Marty smothering her like he’d been doing. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the attention after Drew’s numerous rejections, but as Dr. Murdoch pointed out after forcing herself into a discussion with him: Too much attention can trick the mind into believing carnal desires outweigh all else.

So, Merrill assumed, they needed to find traits they had in common and interests they shared. ‘A few things will do,’ the Professor had also told her, but as far as she knew she didn’t have anything even _remotely_ in common with Marty.

Except experiencing rejection.

“I don’t get it, Merrill. I thought things were, you know, going good between us?” Merrill could see him wracking his brain, and then he broke off and started spitting out possibilities, much to Merrill’s distress. “Did I do something wrong? Was that neck massage I gave you last night too much? Or is my hair too long? I’ve been thinking about getting it cut….”

 _I just need some space._ She couldn’t say that though, this was _Marty_ she was talking about; he drew the wrong conclusions about _everything._ He would accept her need for space and counter it with trying harder.

“You don’t need to get your hair cut, Marty,” she sighed exasperatedly. “You’re fine just the way you are.”

Her words didn’t create the response she expected. “Fine, huh? So you’re not into me then, right? You don’t _love_ me.” He started pacing then, dragging hands through his scalp hard enough to pull hair out, and something deep down in Merrill _ached_ and _trembled_ and _throbbed_ in warning. “Merrill, I _told_ you I didn’t need that, not at first. I thought you knew what I wanted,” he rambled, rarely glancing over at her.

He _had_ reassured her, numerous times, that he had low expectations and didn’t expect anything out of her but a little patience and some trust. That wasn’t the problem. “ _I_ need that for you. Marty, you’ve changed so much since I’ve gotten to know you. This Experiment has done wonders for the _both_ of us, and Dr. Murdoch agrees with me on this point, but I’m not the only one who has the right to benefit from it. I’m not the only one who deserves to be happy. I want you to move on and allow me to move on too. We need to redefine ourselves first.”

“Redefine ourselves, huh?”

She bit back a sigh. Why did Marty Strickland of all the vampires in all the world have to make things so _difficult_ for her? She’d never been this drawn to a vampire other than toward Drew, and it was a testament to Marty’s character that she needed to explore her feelings for him _alone_ , not all tied up in his arms like a hastily wrapped package. Every instinct told her to tell Marty to just forget all of this, to go back to five minutes ago, but if she had any respect for Marty at all then she couldn’t go into this unsure and guilty.

Merrill’s conscience had to be _pure._

Yet Marty Strickland didn’t understand that concept. “So you’re still using that Experiment argument again? Here I was figuring you’d eventually find it _beneath_ you, but I guess it’s sorta your job to sound like a broken record because of course the good ol’ Doc doesn’t _harp_ on it enough. You’re so caught up in focusing on that friggin’ experiment rather than on our own damn lives! Well then what about Drew, Merrill? What about that whole time you were pining after him and I had to sit and watch from the sidelines watching you get hurt time and time again, and you thinking I was brash or annoying or worse, oblivious that I was even there at all. And I waited, Merrill. All I do is wait. And I’m still waiting!”

 _I_ _’m still waiting too_ , Merrill wanted to tell him but held her tongue. _I_ _’m still waiting to make sure I’m not dreaming._

Merrill abruptly went to him as she acknowledged her own _temporary_ hopelessness, placating hands on his shoulders, but he jerked away and cowered by the wall, halfway across the room. She had a fleeting worry as to who might be listening to their conversation, but then realized it was irrelevant. If she couldn’t focus on Marty right now, then it really was over between them before it had ever really begun. _Enough with what people think about you, about_ how _they see you_. _It_ _’s of no import in the long run._

She went to him again, slow and steady this time, hands held to her sides. It had never been her intention to hurt Marty.

Yet what other possible reaction could he have had?

This time he didn’t prevent her from wrapping tingling arms around him, yet all the while she hoped he wouldn’t try to kiss her and make their whole conversation up to this point null and void. He trembled helplessly in her arms, so upset and confused, but it was better than a lie, a lie to make things seem better than they were. Merrill needed to ground herself and _focus_ again. Ever since Sherry her life had been in a spiral, and Merrill was getting two feet off this roller coaster before she crashed and burned.

He didn’t try to kiss her, just slipped a hand underneath the dark wave of her hair and grasped her neck.

Marty, it seemed, was also on the roller coaster, and he was _still_ holding onto her for dear life.

**FIN**


End file.
